You ever want some Bengals discussion I'm here. I'm a NYJ fan first but Cincy is a very close second.

This past weeks game was a heartbreaker. The fumble was a killer. The defense has a ton of trouble on third down too. Pass defense just gets shredded. LT had four touches, but just becuase they got in close and punched it in with him.

Tackling needs to improve, I think losing Landon hurt, a ton of linebackers were kept before the season but they've dropped like flies. Three guys that are good enough to start were lost to injury.
The pass rush needs some help, get some pressure off the secondary in those third down situations. But regardless, the coverage needs to be better, because they get torn up all game.

Also, the third down defense is terrible, it seems like every third and 8 or so gets converted. You'd figure they'd get a stop or two, but it seems like they never do. I wonder what opponents average against the Bengals D on first and second downs versus third, because I think the third down average would be much higher. That might be the downside to having corners that gamble like Tory James and Deltha O'Neal, you'll get your turnovers but the coverage isn't always good. The turnovers haven't come and it's been a killer for the defense, and that brings the whole team down.

On the upside, the line and offense overall looked much better today. Rudi was great as always but Brats went away from him too early AGAIN. I don't know why you pass most of the time with a 3 TD lead early in the third. I'll never understand it.

Palmer looked much better and more comfortable in the pocket all game. Chad FINALLY caught fire, more than a quarter of the way to 1000 yards in one game. He was unbelievable, got me out of my chair more than once.

Chris Henry seems like he could do so much more with his talent, and he has those off the field issues. He could have caught one of those passes in the endzone at the end of the game, a tough catch but it could have been made. Overall he really didn't step up and do much. Reggie Kelly didn't look too bad catching the ball either.

Overall a great game for the offense and the defense was crap (although you could figure that out from looking at the score). At least Palmer looked better, that's a good sign not only for this year but for future years, and Chad finally looked good. Defense should really be the focal point of this upcoming draft, and I hope they finally put a little emphasis on character.

Instead of making my usual multi paragraph post... I'll just say that I agree with everything you said Derza.

I understand Brat stayed with the pass because it was working so well but he has to realize it's not always about putting points on the board. Didn't Carson fumble the ball passing on first down?

Rudi was doing a great job and ONLY got 15 rushes in a game in which we lead by 21 points at half time. He should have had 25+ to milk the clock. It's hard to keep a team that's on your heels behind when you keep trading scores, you're bound to get burned.

Bleh, 11-5 ( :roll: ). There's still very limited hope. It's us, KC, Jacksonville for the wildcard. We own the tiebreaker over KC and hopefully we get it together and Jacksonville continues to struggle.

I'm still holding out hope. Hey, I guess come offseason I'll be glad to have a lower draft pick... Plus I remember last year saying that I had almost wished we didn't make the playoffs so we wouldn't have had the heartbreak of that game :roll: .

Instead of making my usual multi paragraph post... I'll just say that I agree with everything you said Derza.

I understand Brat stayed with the pass because it was working so well but he has to realize it's not always about putting points on the board. Didn't Carson fumble the ball passing on first down?

Rudi was doing a great job and ONLY got 15 rushes in a game in which we lead by 21 points at half time. He should have had 25+ to milk the clock. It's hard to keep a team that's on your heels behind when you keep trading scores, you're bound to get burned.

Bleh, 11-5 ( :roll: ). There's still very limited hope. It's us, KC, Jacksonville for the wildcard. We own the tiebreaker over KC and hopefully we get it together and Jacksonville continues to struggle.

I'm still holding out hope. Hey, I guess come offseason I'll be glad to have a lower draft pick... Plus I remember last year saying that I had almost wished we didn't make the playoffs so we wouldn't have had the heartbreak of that game :roll: .

I'm sure I said I wouldn't ramble on, but I did.

11-5... BELIEVE!!!!!

I'm pretty sure he did fumble on first down. That play really was a killer. IMO if they run the ball that down and that turnover doesn't happen, they win the game. No excuse at all for Rudi to have 18 carries in a game where they had a 3 touchdown lead at halftime. I was watching it with my dad and it was killing us, he didn't get nearly enough carries. I'd almost be happy if Brat didn't come back next year if it meant Rudi got more carries. I did like more deep looks in the game though, it opened things up a bit and added momentum with big plays, they didn't throw enough deep balls in the Baltimore game IMO, that's the forte of Palmer, Chad, and Henry, so why not do it? Hopefully they get it together, and if not, the higher draft pick will be nice, get some defense in there.

Henry doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would be a jerk to his teammates, it's more his attitude towards everyone else that is the problem. Just my opinion though.

And well... He's been quiet of late, the boy needs to learn how to get off of blocks. The second he gets engaged he's out for the rest of the play. I LOVE what I see though, his #1 fan can still critique him...

Its just another injury plagued season for us again. Dexter out, Pollack maybe done for his career, Tab out, AJ out, Odell.............. ********. Bengals really need to shore up that front 7 already. The d-line is getting no pressure after the first couple games this season, the lb core, granted is banged up, but are blowing off assignments and missing tackles. Since the front 7 is playing like garbage the safeties have to move up and the corners can only play 1-1 for so long and finally got burned last week. Can the draft get here any sooner. The season is probably lost now... unless this defense can get there act together.

Its just another injury plagued season for us again. Dexter out, Pollack maybe done for his career, Tab out, AJ out, Odell.............. dumb. Bengals really need to shore up that front 7 already. The d-line is getting no pressure after the first couple games this season, the lb core, granted is banged up, but are blowing off assignments and missing tackles. Since the front 7 is playing like garbage the safeties have to move up and the corners can only play 1-1 for so long and finally got burned last week. Can the draft get here any sooner. The season is probably lost now... unless this defense can get there act together.

Well put. Front seven is weak, the ends and LB's are lacking this year. I dont' think the DT's have been that bad. I only care to address it round one if one of the big guns is there. If not it's DE all the way.

Nice to see Chad shutting up his doubters and despite Bobbie Williams injury the Oline wasn't terrible.

Run the ball with Rudi = Victory. Plain and simple. Nice to see the D step it up. They still struggled on 3rd down and vs. the pass in general but made the big plays. The run D was there. Caleb played great.